‘He just loved his family’: Widow speaks about husband, father of 9 who died in Hwy. 400 crash

globalnews.ca 02 Nov 2017 at 12:13

Canada

The widow of one of the victims of the fatal Hwy 400 crash Tuesday night says he was a “very loving, attentive, patient and family-oriented” husband and father of nine.

Benjamin Dunn, 37, was one of the three victims who lost their lives in the fiery crash involving 14 vehicles, five commercial vehicles and at least two fuel tankers that happened around 11:30 p.m. in the northbound lanes of the highway between County Road 88 and Highway 89, about 40 kilometres south of Barrie.

“It was just so overwhelming and I was obviously thinking ‘oh my gosh, what is going on? ”

Mulak-Dunn said her husband would constantly check in and call on his stops or when he had to gas up his truck, so she normally would have heard from him by that morning.

Nikiyah Mulak-Dunn and her husband Benjamin Dunn on their wedding day.

Nikiyah Mulak-Dunn

A co-worker sent her a picture of the scene that appeared to show Dunn’s truck and that’s when Mulak-Dunn said she knew — they just had to wait to hear from the Ontario Provincial Police.

Dunn had been driving a truck for more than 10 years and was continually upgrading his skills, according to Mulak-Dunn, who said her husband was an excellent driver. While working as a truck driver he also managed to get a degree being a welder and would sometimes work in a mine that was out of town.

“He was a jack of all trades and was always doing what was best for his family.”

The Dunns have nine children, aging from 12 months to 16.

VIDEO: OPP Commissioner discusses some of the factors contributing to devastating crashes saying more vehicles, more distractions and the pressures of the commercial motor vehicle industry are to blame.

“It’s so raw and fresh — we want to remember him the way he was,” she said.

“He would come home from work and the children would run yelling ‘Daddy’s home,’ and he would put them on his shoulders.

“He would be home for meal times, he would drive the boys to hockey and the girls to dance classes. He was so fun to be around.

“He took his hat off from work and was just good to go — he just loved his family.”

Mulak-Dunn said that she told her children when they got home from school Thursday and that they’re all processing the loss differently.

Her six-year-old daughter decided to make a book for her dad with the help of a friend.

In the book, she drew a picture of Dunn with angel wings and wrote, “I hope I see you again in heaven, you were a really good daddy.”

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